Thorburn: CU Buffs' Andre Roberson turning heads in Pac-12

Colorado's Andre Roberson is on the verge of breaking the program rebound record held by Stephane Pelle.
(
JEREMY PAPASSO
)

STANFORD, Calif. -- Of course Tad Boyle is going to lobby for his guy.

Last week Colorado's head coach made the case that Andre Roberson is not only deserving of the Pac-12's defensive player of the year award this season, but also the best defensive player in the country.

During Tuesday's coaches media teleconference, Arizona's Sean Miller was asked to name some of the top players in the conference this season.

He spoke of one player: Boyle's guy.

"Hands down the best defensive player in our conference and I think the best defensive player in the country is Andre Roberson," Miller said. "He may be the most versatile of anyone I've seen."

Miller pointed out Roberson's ability to defend elite perimeter players like Cal's Allen Crabbe as well as relentless forwards like Arizona's Solomon Hill.

With Josh Scott (concussion) unavailable for last Thursday's game against Utah, Roberson was assigned to defend skilled 6-10 center Jason Washburn.

CU's skinny 6-7 junior held Washburn to 10 points and five rebounds while finishing with 13 rebounds, 10 points, four steals and two blocks during the Buffs' 60-50 victory.

"He reminds me of kind of a Dennis Rodman type of guy when you consider how he can impact a game without scoring," Miller said.

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Roberson (1,006 career rebounds) is on the verge of breaking the program record held by Stephane Pelle (1054, 1999-2003) in only three seasons. He is also leading the nation in rebounding (11.8 rpg), is tied for the Pac-12 lead in steals (2.3 spg) with Oregon's Arsalan Kazemi, and seventh in blocked shots (1.4 bpg).

Streaking in Berkeley

CU plays Stanford on Wednesday night before taking on the hottest team in the conference -- the Cal Golden Bears -- on Saturday across the Bay.

Mike Montgomery and Co. were a mediocre 11-8 overall and 3-4 in conference play after suffering an 81-71 loss on Jan. 27 in Boulder.

Led by one of the best backcourt tandems in the country -- Pac-12 player of the year front-runner and Allen Crabbe and reigning conference player of the week Justin Cobbs -- Cal has won five consecutive games and seven of its past eight.

"I think we're playing better basketball for longer periods of time and we've managed to win some games that looked like they were in serious doubt," Montgomery said of the streak. "There's probably four teams that if anybody in that group wins all of their remaining games then they would deserve to win the conference."

The official NCAA RPI still likes CU, which checks in at No. 29 this week. Only Arizona (11) is higher with UCLA (42), Cal (45) and Oregon (49) also in the top 50.

"We certainly check on (RPI) when our non-conference season ends," Miller said. "Once our conference season begins you're at the mercy of how everybody scheduled and how they did in the non-conference."

USC (107), Utah (177), Oregon State (183) and Washington State (187) are four reasons why the Pac-12 now ranks behind the Mountain West in the Sagarin ratings.

Notable

Oregon coach Dana Altman said his starting point guard, Dominic Artis, who has been out five weeks with a foot injury, could give the Ducks "a few minutes" on Thursday against Oregon State. ... Over the last eight games, Stanford forwards Josh Huestis (14.8 ppg, 11.3 rpg) and Dwight Powell (17.6 ppg, 9.9 rpg) have both been dominant double-double machines. ... UCLA's Larry Drew II has 205 assists this season, which makes him the first Bruin with over 200 assists in a season since Tyus Edney dished out216 assists in 1995. The Bruin single-season record is 236, set by Pooh Richardson in 1989. ... Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott will attend Wednesday night's CU-Stanford game at Maples Pavilion.

Quotable

"I wouldn't bet against Colorado," Utah Larry Kyrstkowiak said when asked of the Buffs were capable of getting hot and winning the Pac-12 Tournament again.

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